Bear City Roller Derby

Bear City Roller Derby (BCRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Berlin. Founded in 2008, Bear City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).[1]

Bear City Roller Derby
League logo
Metro areaBerlin
CountryGermany
Founded2008
TeamsA-Team
B-Team
C-Team (Breaking Bears)
Track type(s)Flat
AffiliationsWFTDA
Websitebearcityrollerderby.com

History

The league was founded as the Berlin Bombshells,[2] although it now reserves that name for its interleague bouting team. It was the second roller derby league in Germany, and was assisted in its early development by the first league, the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz.[3] In its early days, it was thrown out of its practice hall by Berlin's sports department; the team decided to take legal action to regain access to a public practice space.[4] The league was given a boost when Diane Rott transferred from the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls.[4]

It competed in the first roller derby bout between two German leagues, against the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz in 2009. In the same year, it competed in "Roll Britannia", the first roller derby tournament in Europe, while in December it hosted the first European Roller Derby Organisational Conference (EROC).[2]

Bear City hosted the first German Roller Derby Championship, held in December 2010, losing 124-128 to Stuttgart in the final.[5]

In July 2016, the league announced it had officially changed the name of the organization to Bear City Roller Derby.[6]

WFTDA competition
Original Berlin Bombshells logo
Secondary Bear City logo

In October 2010, the league was accepted as an apprentice member of the WFTDA.[7] By May 2011, it had more than 60 skaters.[8]

In March 2012, Bear City Roller Derby became the WFTDA’s first full member league in continental Europe.[9]

In 2014, Bear City competed at the WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario,[10] where they placed second to Rideau Valley Roller Girls.[11] This playoff appearance was the first in WFTDA history by a team from continental Europe.[12] Later that year they made their debut at the 2014 WFTDA Championships,[13] where they placed third in Division 2.[14] In 2015, Bear City returned to Division 2 Playoffs in Detroit,[15] entering as the tenth seed and finishing in sixth place.[16] In 2016 Bear City again qualified for Division 2 Playoffs as the eighth seed in Lansing, Michigan, and finished in fifth place with a 177-153 victory over Tri-City Roller Derby.[17]

Bear City again qualified for the Division 2 Playoffs and Championship in 2017 as the #14 seed in Pittsburgh, losing their opening game to Paris Rollergirls 205-152.[18] Bear City rebounded with a 275-253 win in overtime against Pirate City Rollers,[19] followed by a 207-187 loss to E-Ville Roller Derby.[20] On day 3 Bear City fell 176-155 to Ohio Roller Derby to finish in tenth place.[21] At the 2018 WFTDA Playoffs in Atlanta, Bear City was the twelfth seed and ended their weekend with a tight consolation round victory over Queen City Roller Girls, 218-212.[22]

Rankings
Season Final ranking[23] Playoffs Championship
2012 23 E[24] DNQ DNQ
2013 132 WFTDA[25] DNQ DNQ
2014 52 WFTDA[26] 2 D2[11] 3 D2[14]
2015 45 WFTDA[27] 6 D2[16] DNQ
2016 50 WFTDA[28] 5 D2[17] DNQ
2017 50 WFTDA[29] N/A 10 D2[21]
2018 31 WFTDA[30] CR[22] DNQ
  • CR = consolation round

References
  1. "Bear City Roller Derby – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. About Archived September 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Bear City Roller Derby (in German)
  3. Manda Singer, "Bombshelled", ProvokatoR, 6 September 2010
  4. Marta Popowska, "A short history of roller derby in Europe", Blood and Thunder #15, pp.18-23
  5. "Stuttgarter Rollergirlz siegen in Berlin", Good News, 18 December 2010 (in German)
  6. "Berlin Bombshells become Bear City Roller Derby". Bear City Roller Derby. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. "WFTDA Apprentice Program Welcomes 10 New Leagues Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine", WFTDA, 5 October 2010
  8. "Rollschuhfahren mal anders: Seit drei Jahren spielen Frauen aus Berlin und dem Umland „Rollerderby“", Märkische Allgemeine, 14 May 2011 (in German)
  9. "WFTDA Welcomes 14 New Member Leagues - Latest News - Women's Flat Track Derby Association". Wftda.com. 2012-03-01. Archived from the original on 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  10. Rivert, Christine (23 August 2014). "Derby gals invade Waterloo". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. "August 22-24: Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada - Women's Flat Track Derby Association". wftda.org. WFTDA. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  12. "Rideau Valley Makes WFTDA History at Thrilling D2 Tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo". Derby Nerd. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  13. Frye, Andy (31 October 2014). "Why Stars Are Coming And Going During Roller Derby's Global Boom". ESPN. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  14. "WFTDA 2014 D1 & D2 Playoffs & Championships". WFTDA. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. Murdoch, Robin (28 August 2015). "Women's 2015 roller derby playoffs in Dearborn Heights this weekend". FOX 2 Detroit. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  16. "D2 Playoffs Detroit, MI Aug 28-30". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  17. "D2L 5th Place: #8 Bear City wins rematch against #9 Tri-City, 177-153". Derby Central. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  18. Khaos, Merry (18 August 2017). "#3 Paris Rollergirls Beat #14 Bear City in their First Playoff, 205-152". Derby Central. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  19. Fristoe, Chelsea (19 August 2017). "#14 Bear City Claws Past #10 Pirate City, 275-253". Derby Central. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  20. "#15 E-Ville rises over Bear City, 207-187". Derby Central. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  21. "2017 WFTDA D2 Tournaments: Pittsburgh Central". Derby Central. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  22. "2018 Playoffs Atlanta Game 10: Bear City vs. Queen City – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  23. "Current Rankings Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine", WFTDA
  24. "Current Rankings". WFTDA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  25. "Rankings: December 31, 2013". WFTDA. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  26. "Rankings: December 31, 2014 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  27. "Rankings: December 31, 2015 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  28. "Rankings: December 31, 2016 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  29. "Rankings: December 31, 2017 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  30. "Rankings: December 31, 2018 – WFTDA". wftda.com. WFTDA. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
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